However, leading a tournament won't be a novelty for him. He hopes to draw on his previous experience in San Diego.

Back then, two strong opening rounds put him in a final Saturday pairing with Tiger Woods. Streelman actually didn't play poorly from tee to green, but he couldn't make putts. A 75 knocked him out of contention and a 77 on the final day dropped him into a tie for 29th.

Streelman called it an "eye-opening" weekend. It should have a carry-over effect nearly six months later at Torrey Pines.

"The main thing I took out of it was the necessity of rest, especially after a day like that," Streelman said. "It's wearing on you, especially playing with Tiger and the scrutiny and excitement. I'm definitely going to take that into regards tonight and tomorrow."

Do you think Torrey Pines might be one of Streelman's favorite courses? When he made it through sectional qualifying last week in Memphis, he arrived with much more confidence than if this Open were at a traditional venue like Winged Foot or Oakmont.

Streelman got off to a quick start with a birdie on the 10th hole as he started on the back 9. Then he holed out with a lob wedge for birdie on 12, a clear indication this would be his day.

The round could have been even better. He had three straight birdie putts on 4, 5 and 6 that burned the hole.

However, he did make a solid par save on the par-4 seventh when he canned a 15-footer. As the twisting putt curled into the hole, Streelman gave a Woods-like fist-pump as the crowd went wild.

It has been an eventual few weeks for Streelman. He recently was married and the two-week break that came with the wedding also gave him a chance to step away from the game.

As most rookies experience, Streelman went into a slump, missing the cut in five of six tournaments in the spring. He came to the Open ranked 146th on the money list with $219,165 in earnings.

"It was great to have a couple of weeks off and kind of refresh everything," he said.

Hicks is the other unknown at the top of the leaderboard. He sits 80th on the Nationwide money list.

When asked, "Who are you?" Hicks replied, "I think I'm another one of the guys out there playing the Nationwide Tour trying to earn his PGA Tour card. There are a lot of great young players in America and we're all trying to earn our way to playing on this big level in front of the cameras and all the media and everything else."

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esherman@tribune.com

Bunker Mentality

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